The tracks of high speed magnetic transportation systems, especially magnetic levitation systems or maglevs, generally comprise on posts or the like a multiplicity of track carriers of reinforced concrete or steel and supporting the stator rail or rails and the guide rail or rails for the vehicle.
A typical track carrier of this type has a generally closed and substantially trapezoidal cross section formed by an upper plate which projects laterally beyond the longitudinal ribs on the underside of the cover plate which are connected, in turn, to the lower flange of the girder or truss formed by the carrier, by downwardly extending webs, braces or struts.
Lateral plate strips are provided on the projecting sides of the cover plate for use in the magnetic driver or guidance, e.g. mounting the guide rails, for example. Lateral guide rails, the longitudinal stator and other rails participate in the magnetic and mechanical support of the vehicle, its displacement and its guidance.
The mounting parts must be positioned with great precision in view of the high speeds of the maglev vehicles. Furthermore, the track carrier must have a minimum deformation under load and temperature variations and must have a minimum characteristic frequency to prevent the buildup of resonant states.
A prior art track carrier of the aforedescribed type is illustrated and described in Bauingenieur 60, 1988, pp. 463-469 and is fabricated completely from steel. While this system has the advantage of low intrinsic weight it does have stability problems.
It is also known to provide track carriers for high speed transport systems which are composed entirely of reinforced concrete, but these systems have the drawback of very high intrinsic weight.